Brian Damage
It’s Saturday and today we have ’This Week in Wrestling’, the 1st of 2020. Today Brian discusses the huge void left by John Cena in WWE and shares all the best wrestling content from this week.
You Can’t See Him and WWE Wishes You Did
As we enter into a new year and a brand new decade, for many it brings hope and a chance to reset and get better. That appears to be what WWE has been trying to do for the past year themselves. In WWE, there seems to be a big void…something is missing and to be honest…it really isn’t that hard to figure it out. While the company has been feverishly trying to create the next main event star, they haven’t quite succeeded. The WWE is suffering from a John Cena hangover.
For 16 years, John Cena was THE man in WWE. He won multiple world titles and was a constant in the main event picture. Many fans loathed him because he was pushed so hard and some felt he was shoved down their throats. That may be the case, but there was no denying his star power in and out of the ring. He may not have been the world’s greatest in ring performer….but he was more than serviceable.
His greatest attribute was his skills on the microphone and could certainly hang with the very best talkers the industry has ever seen. Cena was the Hulk Hogan or Stone Cold Steve Austin of his generation. The guy that WWE leaned on heavily in good times and in bad. This past year, aside from appearing at Wrestlemania to resurrect his old Dr. of Thuganomics gimmick…Cena has been off mostly all WWE programming.
It most definitely has hurt the promotion…as many stars have been slotted as the “next man up” and all haven’t gotten to Cena’s level of success. You look at guys like Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Kofi Kingston have all had varying degrees of success, but were not quite up to par with Cena’s stardom. Reigns is perhaps closest to Cena as THE guy…but even he is missing that extra something that John Cena brought.
I admit, I was no fan of Cena during his big run with the company for all those years and was one who wanted to see him turn heel. Now that he is gone, I can appreciate what he meant to so many for so many years. Whether you loved him or hated him, there was absolutely no question he generated a strong reaction. The current line up of wrestlers simply do not get the Cena style ovation.
John Cena was the definition of WWE Superstar…it didn’t really matter if it was corporately created…bottom line…it stuck with him. Cena more than anybody else made himself what he became to WWE. Now that he is gone and doing the Hollywood thing…WWE is suffering looking for that guy to step up. Maybe WWE stuck too long with John Cena and should’ve used him more to create the next big superstar. They tried it with Roman Reigns…but he isn’t quite there yet and maybe won’t ever be.
It maybe hard to admit, but John Cena is missed by WWE and many fans. They certainly wish they could still see him.
Picture Gallery
Brian
Hard to believe, but after nearly 40 years in wrestling, Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger is finally retiring tonight at Wrestle Kingdom.
Congratulations on the engagement of Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev.
Madusa’s wedding photo
The entire Orton family. I wonder who, if any, will follow in Randy’s footsteps and become a fourth generational wrestler?
A cool pic of actor Michael Douglas with Andre the Giant
The official brackets for NXT’s Dusty Rhodes Classic.
LOL
Ever wonder what Seth Rollins would look like clean shaven and bald? Wonder no more….
AEW World Champion Chris Jericho looking good at age 49.
Miranda Gordy (Daughter of Freebird Terry Gordy) and Lynyrd Skynyrd
Porn actress Tanya Tate is a WWE fan.
Impact Wrestling Knockout Jordynne Grace
WWE interviewer Kayla Braxton
Congratulations on Charlotte and Andrade’s engagement.
Charly Caruso from the back
In Memoriam for all we lost in pro wrestling for 2019
Gene Okerlund on 01/02 at age 76 in Sarasota, FL
Michael Lamarche (Alexis Smirnoff) on 01/05 at age 71 in Marietta, GA
Les Thornton on 02/01 at age 84 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Salvatore Bellomo on 02/09 at age 67 in Belgium
Koji Kitao on 02/10 at age 55 in Japan
Pedro Morales on 02/12 at age 76 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Christopher Pallies (King Kong Bundy) on 03/04 at age 63 in Glassboro, New Jersey
Richard John Beyer (The Sensational Intelligent Destroyer) on 03/07 at age 88 in Akron, New York
Yusuke “Wally” Yamaguchi on 03/09 at age 60 in Japan
Willis Roger Kirby on 03/18 at age 79 in North Kansas City, Missouri
John Arthur Quinn on 04/22 at age 77 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Cesar Gonzalez-Barron (Silver King) on 05/11 at age 51 in London, England
Ashley Marie Massaro on 05/16 at age 39 in Smithtown, New York
Robert Bedard (Rene Goulet) on 05/25 at age 86 in Matthews, North Carolina
Atsushi Aoki on 06/03 at age 41 in Japan
Adrian McCallum (Lionheart) on 06/19 at age 36 in Ayr, Scotland
John Czawlytko (Maxx Muscle) on 06/27 at age 56 in Dundalk, Maryland
Jacques Rougeau, Sr. on 07/01 at age 89 in Rawdon, Quebec, Canada
Pedro Aguayo Damian (Perro Aguayo, Sr.) on 07/03 at age 73 in Tala, Jalisco State, Mexico
Francisco Alonso Lutteroth (Paco Alonso) on 07/06 at age 67 in Mexico City, Mexico
Harley Race on 08/01 at age 76 in St. Charles, Missouri
Edward Leon Baxter (The Wrestling Pro) on 08/15 at age 81 in Dothan, Alabama
Eddie Marlin on 08/15 at age 89 in Hendersonville, Tennessee
Norman Frederick Charles, III on 08/22 at age 78 in Milton, Florida
Miguel Urive (Dr. Karonte III) on 08/26 age unknown in Mexico
Rick Bognar (Big Titan & Razor Ramon) on 09/20 at age 49 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Randy Colley (Moondog Rex) on 12/14 at age 69 in Tennessee
Efren Tiburicio Marquez (Mr. Niebla) on 12/23 at age 46 in Mexico City, Mexico
Jeff Smith (Izzy Slapowitz) on 12/28 at age 71 in New York
Rest in Peace and thank you for what you contributed to professional wrestling.
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